Eastern athletics ignored

What truly irritates me is the citywide neglect of an amazing school. While watching the yearly (EWU-Gonzaga) basketball game on TV, I saw how clearly biased this city is.

Eastern Washington University may not be made of money like Gonzaga, but we still exist. We are twice as big as Gonzaga, with a wider variety of academic programs and a cost less than half, although money is the biggest issue, isn’t it?

The biggest frustration to me is in the neglect of my school’s athletics. My fiancé works at a local club/gym and told me how while members were watching the game, most were surprised at how well this school was doing against “their” Gonzaga. And one even asked where this school was from! He laughed because he’s a senior at EWU.

Only 20 minutes away, and Spokane forgets about our amazing football team (usually neglected because of WSU). Scores are briefly mentioned in the news while a full spread is done on Gonzaga basketball players’ latest haircuts. When basketball begins we are completely forgotten.

EWU did lose, but it could easily have been a different outcome. As a state school with limited funds, I feel we deserve far more credit for our achievements than a private school. We can’t provide full-ride scholarships to the whole team, our players aren’t bought resulting in a different quality of player. This was proven in our near win of this supposed superior team.

This is a city full of everyday people who I feel should give more attention to the everyday kind of school that Eastern is. We live, work and spend our money in Spokane, so why are we ignored?

Jennifer D. Dilley

Spokane